BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A pair of second period goals 33 seconds apart propelled Bemidji State to a 3-0 win over Vermont in women's college hockey Saturday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Jessica Ptachick stopped all 20 UVM shots to record a shutout in her first career start for the WCHA Beavers. "It is a good lesson for us that we need to play 60 minutes of good hockey to win a game," said Vermont head coach Tim Bothwell. “We were not very good as a group in the second period and they took advantage of it. On the plus side, we worked very hard right until the end to give ourselves a chance to win.”
The two teams played to a 3-3 overtime tie Friday night and Saturday’s game was scoreless until late in the second stanza. Each team had a great scoring chance early in the second period with Vermont on the power play. After Catamounts goalie Jenilee Roy (Sandown, N.H.) stopped Kate Robinson’s shorthanded breakaway bid, UVM’s Kate Lesniak (Buffalo, N.Y.) came in alone on Ptachick, who also made her best save of the contest. The Beavers (4-8-2) would get on the board at 14:38 of the second on a goal by Nikki Eckebrecht. Just 33 seconds later Jessica Fuller, on an assist from Jaime LeDuc, made it 2-0. BSU’s Kailee Jaeger closed out the scoring at 10:28 of the final period.
The two teams were whistled for just three penalties in the hard-fought but clean game. Bemidji State outshot Vermont, 26-20, and cashed in on its only power play opportunity of the night.
Roy finished with 23 saves for the Catamounts (2-11-2) who wrapped up their nine-game homestand Saturday. UVM picked up a pair of wins and two ties on home ice after opening the season with six losses on the road.
Vermont returns to Hockey East action at New Hampshire on Saturday, December 2 at 7:00pm. UVM’s next home game is against Connecticut at Gutterson Fieldhouse on Thursday, January 4, 2007 at 4:00pm. For ticket information, please contact the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at 1-866-4CAT-TIX or log on to uvmathletics.com. UVM students (with a valid ID) and all Rally’s Roundup members are admitted free to all home women’s hockey games.